• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.56 no.3
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• pp.229-241
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• 2023

Microphysogobio rapidus is designated as endangered species class I by Ministry of Environment, and its distribution and population have been gradually declining, and it is now limited to the Nam River and some tributary streams of the Nakdong River Watershed. For the restoration of this highly endangered species, it is important to identify the causes of the decline and establish appropriate restoration plans. However, due to lack of basic data and ecological research, most steps are stagnant. Therefore, in this study, we identified the differences in the physical, biological, and sociological habitats between current and past distributed sites through field surveys and literature reviews. As a result of the field survey, there were differences in conductivity between the current and past distributed sites, and fish communities were also showed differences. The literature data also showed that the physico-chemical values of the past distributed sites were generally unfavorable, which generated negative consequences on biological factors. In particular, the effects of urbanization were found to be a major factor affecting the habitat of M. rapidus. Habitat stabilization is crucial for the recovery of this endangered species. However, in the past distributed sites, disturbances such as stream development and weir construction have altered streams physico-chemically and result in changes of M. rapidus. Therefore, a comprehensive plan that considers both stream connectivity and water quality is needed to manage and restore the habitat of M. rapidus.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Environmental Restoration Technology
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• v.26 no.6
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• pp.205-220
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• 2023

This study aimed to analyze the needs and interests of the public on endangered wildlife using complaint big data. We collected 1,203 complaints and their corresponding text data on endangered wildlife, pre-processed them, and constructed a document-term matrix for 1,739 text data. We performed LDA (Latent Dirichlet Allocation) topic modeling and network analysis. The results revealed that the complaints on endangered wildlife peaked in June-August, and the interest shifted from insects to various endangered wildlife in the living area, such as mammals, birds, and amphibians. In addition, the complaints on endangered wildlife could be categorized into 8 topics and 5 clusters, such as discovery report, habitat protection and response request, information inquiry, investigation and action request, and consultation request. The co-occurrence network analysis for each topic showed that the keywords reflecting the call center reporting procedure, such as photo, send, and take, had high centrality in common, and other keywords such as dung beetle, know, absence and think played an important role in the network. Through this analysis, we identified the main keywords and their relationships within each topic and derived the main issues for each topic. This study confirmed the increasing and diversifying public interest and complaints on endangered wildlife and highlighted the need for professional response. We also suggested developing and extending participatory conservation plans that align with the public's preferences and demands. This study demonstrated the feasibility of using complaint big data on endangered wildlife and its implications for policy decision-making and public promotion on endangered wildlife.

• Journal of agriculture & life science
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• v.45 no.5
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• pp.41-47
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• 2011

This study was carried out to provide basic information for assessment conditions as habitat to conserve and restore asiatic black bear released in Jirisan National Park. The field investigation at Piagol, Bitjeom, Jangdanggol, Baemsagol, Chilseon valley, and Hanshin valley which checked for habitat of released asiatic black bear were conducted from 2008 to 2010. There were no obvious differences in home range size of asiatic black bear by study year. The seasonal home ranges were analyzed $25.64km^2$ for males and $17.57km^2$ for female in spring, $73.02km^2$ for males and $27.45km^2$ for females in summer, $41.58km^2$ for males and $13.26km^2$ for females in fall, and $6.11km^2$ for males and $2.89km^2$ for females in winter based on 95% Minimum Convex Polygon (MCP) method, respectively. In average elevation by gender of asiatic black bear, the male was higher than the female. respectively. Average elevation by season were $894{\pm}33m$ in spring, $852{\pm}20m$ in summer, $985{\pm}67m$ in fall, and $996{\pm}26m$ in winter, respectively.

• Environmental engineer
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• s.328
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• pp.70-71
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• 2013

• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.55 no.2
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• pp.145-155
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• 2022

Koreoleptoxis nodifila (Martens, 1886) is an endangered species only living in the central and north streams of South Korea. However, there is a lack of information on physical habitat characteristics of K. nodifila. We aimed to determine preference ranges for water depth, current velocity, streambed substrate of K. nodifila. The weibull model was used to estimate the habitat suitability based on distribution of individual abundance by physical factors. Optimal depth preferences ranged from 0.53~17.17 cm, current preferences ranged from 48.40~81.03 cm s^-1 and substrate (𝜱_m) preferences ranged from -4.36~ -2.26. Median values of central tendency were determined as follows: water depth 16.73 cm, current velocity 65.23 cm s^-1, substrate -3.51. Mean values of central tendency were determined as follows: water depth 21.32 cm, current velocity 65.65 cm s^-1, substrate -3.63. Mode values of central tendency were determined as follows: water depth 5.17 cm, current velocity 64.77 cm s^-1, substrate -3.24. Based on the habitat suitability analysis, the microhabitat types of K. nodifila were determined as riffle and coarse-grained streambed.

• Korean Journal of Environment and Ecology
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• v.27 no.6
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• pp.690-694
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• 2013

The aim of the present study is to obtain ecological data necessary for increasing the survival rate and effective individual management of fox cubs by analyzing the behavioral pattern during the lactation period. The subjects of the present study were baby foxes born in 2013 and taken care of at the species restoration technology institute, Korea National Park Service. Our analysis on the lactation of fox cubs and their appearance pattern outside the burrow revealed that the frequency and duration of lactation decreased with the growth of the cubs, whereas the frequency of the cubs venturing outside the den, activity time, and distance ventured increased. By the $30^{th}$ day after birth, in particular, the lactation behavior of the vixens largely decreased, and the activity of the cubs outside the den increased accordingly. Thus, for future management of the propagation of fox individuals for securing the original breed, it is necessary to increase the living food source. In addition, while capturing foxes for individual marking of cubs born in the wild, it is desirable to capture cubs older than 30 days not only for easy capture but also to minimize negative influence on the growth of the cub.

• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.52 no.1
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• pp.28-39
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• 2019

This study was conducted to elucidate microplastics detection of freshwater ecosystems in Geum river. Samples are collected at 6 points in freshwater, 5 points in fishes. Freshwater was sampled 100 L per each points and fish species were Opsariichthys uncirostris amurensis, Hemibarbus labeo, Pseudogobio esocinus, Zacco platypus, Micropterus salmoides and Cyprinus carpio. FTIR analyis was adopted to identify microplastic types. Extracted microplastics were PES (polyester), PE (polyethylene), PP (polypropylene), PET (polyethylene terephthalate), PVC(Polyvinyl chloride) in freshwater, and PES, PE, PP, PET, PVC in fishes. Our results were expected to be used basic research information for further study in microplastics of freshwater ecosystems.

• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.56 no.4
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• pp.406-413
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• 2023

Captive breeding and reintroduction are crucial strategies for conserving endangered species populations. However, fish raised in predator-free environments, show a lack of recognition of predationrelated stimuli such as chemical and visual signals. It is critical to recognize chemical signals from injured conspecifics, also known as alarm signals, and the order or shape of predators to indicate the spread of predation risk in the habitat. We conducted a laboratory experiment to determine and adjust the optimal exposure period to induce appropriate anti-predator behavior response to different types of stimuli (Chemical, Visual and Chemical+Visual) for the endangered species Microphysogobio rapidus. Our results demonstrate that predator avoidance behavior varies depending on the types of stimuli and the duration of predation risk exposure. First, the results showed captive-breed M. rapidus show lack of response against conspecific alarm signal (Chemical cue) before the predation risk exposure period and tend to increase response over predation risk exposure time. Second, response to predator (visual cue) tend to peak at 48 hours cumulative exposure, but show dramatic decrease after 72 hours cumulative exposure. Finally, response to the mixed cue (Chemical+visual) tend to peak prior to the predation risk exposure period and show reduced response during subsequent exposure periods. This experiment confirms the lack of responsiveness to conspecific alarm signals in captive-bred M. rapidus and the need for an optimal nature behavior enhancement program prior to release of endangered species. Furthermore, responsiveness to predator visual signal peak at 48 hours cumulative exposure, suggest an optimal predation risk exposure period of up to 48 hours.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Environmental Restoration Technology
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• v.26 no.6
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• pp.135-154
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• 2023

Urban wetlands provide various ecosystem services and are subject to restoration and creation projects due to their increased value in the context of climate change. However, the vegetation structure of wetlands is sensitive to environmental changes, including artificial disturbances, and requires continuous maintenance. In this study, we conducted a vegetation survey of three wetlands created as part of a project to restore urban degraded natural ecosystems and monitored the quantitative changes in wetland vegetation structure using an unmanned aerial vehicle. The vegetation survey revealed 73 species in Incheon Yeonhui wetland, and the change in vegetation composition based on wetland occurrence frequency was 11.5% on average compared to the 2018 vegetation survey results. The vegetation survey identified 44 species in Busan Igidae wetland, and the proportion of species classified as obligate upland plants was the highest at 48.8% among all plants, while the proportion of naturalized plants accounted for 15.9% of all plants. The open water surface area decreased from 10% in May 2019 to 6.7% in May 2020. Iksan Sorasan wetland was surveyed and 44 species were confirmed, and it was found that the proportion of facultative wetland plant decreased compared to the 2018 vegetation survey results, and the open water surface area increased from 0.4% in May 2019 to 4.1% in May 2020. The results of this study showed that wetlands with low artificial management intensity exhibited a tendency for stabilization of vegetation structure, with a decrease in the proportion of plants with high wetland occurrence frequency and a relatively small number of new species. Wetlands with high artificial management intensity required specific management, as they had a large change in vegetation structure and a partially high possibility of new invasion. We reaffirmed the importance of continuous monitoring of vegetation communities and infrastructure for wetlands considering the function and use of urban wetlands, and restoration stages. These research results suggest the need to establish a sustainable wetland maintenance system through the establishment of long-term maintenance goals and monitoring methods that consider the environmental conditions and vegetation composition of wetlands.

• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.57 no.1
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• pp.39-50
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• 2024

In ecosystems within limited resources, interspecific competition is inevitable, often leading to the competitive exclusion of inferior species. This study aims to provide foundational information for the conservation and restoration management of Microphysogobio rapidus by evaluating species' ecological response to biological factors within its habitat. To understand this relationship, we collected food web organisms from site where M. rapidus coexist with Microphysogobio yaluensis, a specie ecologically similar to M. rapidus, and evaluated the trophic levels (TL), isotopic niche space (INS), and the overlap of INS among fishes within the habitat using stable isotope analysis. Our analysis revealed that the M. rapidus exhibited a higher TL than M. yaluensis, with TL of 2.6 and 2.4, respectively. M. yaluensis exhibited a broad INS, significantly influencing the feeding characteristics of most fish. Conversely, M. rapidus showed a narrow INS and asymmetric feeding relationships with other species, in habitats with high competition levels. This feeding characteristics of M. rapidus indicate that the increase in competitors sharing the similar resources lead to a decrease in available resources and, consequently, is expected to result in a decrease in their density.